With the increasing popularity of viewing and/or listening to content, such as music, shows, and movies, over the Internet, there is a need for optimizing the client's viewing experience. Because the Internet is a variable bitrate channel without dedicated bandwidth between the server and client, it is important to adjust the bitrate of the content being sent to the client.
For bitrate-switching streaming solutions that rely on server-side awareness of the needs of each specific client, additional server-side resources may be required. For example, locating bitrate selection decision making at the server may require additional server-side software and/or hardware resources. In addition, servers may require information about clients, such as client capabilities (e.g., hardware and software), and network bandwidth information.
Client bitrate selection of streaming media can be a complex problem. One solution is for a client to adjust its buffer to account for startup-delay and changes in network bandwidth during downloading of a fixed-bitrate stream covering a program. However, this solution can lead to rebuffering situations which interrupt the client viewing experience.
Therefore, there exists ample opportunity for improvement in technologies related to client side rate control and indexed file layout for streaming media.